Authors: Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón ? Fighting Drop-out Rates in Engineering Education: Empirical Research regarding the Impact of MUVEs on Students’ Motivation ? E-IED-Summit,Madrid, 28 th – 29 th October 2011

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 1/11 Index  Introduction  Description of the instructional framework (NUCLEO) and the prototype (Mare Monstrum)  Two Case Studies of Applying Mare Monstrum in Engineering Education  Discussion of the Results and Conclusions

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 2/11 Discussion of results And Conclusions Contents Introduction & Motivation NUCLEO (generic framework) And Mare Monstrum (specific prototype) Case Studies Introduction  MUVEs (Multi User Virtual Environments) are gaining attention for educational purposes  E.g., general-purpose MUVEs (Second Life™) and education-specific (River City™, Quest Atlantis™, Revolution™, etc.).  Most frequently cited arguments in favor of educational MUVEs  Digital Natives do not feel attracted by traditional content  MUVEs can enhance the motivation of the students Question: Do MUVEs really enhance the learning experience in terms of student motivation?

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 3/11 Discussion of results And Conclusions Contents Introduction & Motivation NUCLEO (generic framework) And Mare Monstrum (specific prototype) Case Studies NUCLEO: A Bridge Between MUVEs and E-Learning Systems  The use of MUVEs is hindered by some issues MUVEs are difficult to integrate in the learning flow  MUVEs work as “black boxes” (it is difficult to know what’s going on there) so the performance of the students cannot be tracked easily  NUCLEO aims to address those issues by integrating MUVEs in Learning Management Systems (e.g. Moodle™, Sakai™,.LRN™)  NUCLEO is a plug-in to be installed on the LMS-side  General ideas behind NUCLEO  Background: socio-constructivism, pedagogical sound approach  Uses a Problem-Based Solving (PBL) approach as the underlying pedagogical trend  Small teams try to reach the solution of real-world, open-ended, ill- structured problems  Real course is represented metaphorically using fantasy

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 4/11 Discussion of results And Conclusions Contents Introduction & Motivation NUCLEO (generic framework) And Mare Monstrum (specific prototype) Case Studies Mare Monstrum: Fantastic Metaphor  Inhabitants of Dragon Island  The Picts  The Dark Lords (want to destroy knowledge)  The Sea Dragons (train the Picts in the weapons of knowledge)  The game simulates a school of warriors trying to get the grade of Dragon Warrior Sea Dragons Dragon Warrior Candidate

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 5/11 Discussion of results And Conclusions Contents Introduction & Motivation NUCLEO (generic framework) And Mare Monstrum (specific prototype) Case Studies Mare Monstrum: Social Interaction  Interaction is carried out following two different schemes to improve motivation, team dynamics  Collaboration  Competition  Interaction is carried out also at two different levels  Individually  By group  These mechanics are supported with two main resources  Parameters to show social recognition  Rankings  Physical distinctive characteristics according to achievements  Three zones for interaction

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 6/11 Discussion of results And Conclusions Contents Introduction & Motivation NUCLEO (generic framework) And Mare Monstrum (specific prototype) Case Studies Mare Monstrum: Social Interaction (II) Global Interaction Student-tutorInteraction Group Interaction

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 7/11 Discussion of results And Conclusions Contents Introduction & Motivation NUCLEO (generic framework) And Mare Monstrum (specific prototype) Case Studies  Two case studies in order to test how three aspects of Mare Monstrum affect students’ motivation  The role game dynamic of the learning scenario  The immersive 3D MUVE scenario  The fostering of competition by using social recognition strategies.

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 8/11 Discussion of results And Conclusions Contents Introduction & Motivation NUCLEO (generic framework) And Mare Monstrum (specific prototype) Case Studies Applying Mare Monstrum to Engineering Education: Case Study 1 (Description)  Teaching “Programming Fundamentals” to Electronic Engineering Students  Problem  Alarmingly increase of drop-out-rates  Gradual decrease of students’ grades  Methods: Compare traditional approach (2 years) Vs NUCLEO- based approach (3 years)  First year: Traditional approach combining lectures, lab sessions and a final test.  Second year: Prototype 1 (Mundo Nucleo)  Similar to Mare Monstrum but using a 2D GUI  Used by 27 volunteers (from 60)  Third year: Prototype 2 (Mare Monstrum): 56 students.

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 9/11 Applying Mare Monstrum to Engineering Education: Case Study 1 (Results)  Average dropout rate  Student satisfaction survey 1st year 2nd year 3rd year

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 10/11 Discussion of results And Conclusions Contents Introduction & Motivation NUCLEO (generic framework) And Mare Monstrum (specific prototype) Case Studies Discussion of the Results  The results depict an increase of students’ motivation  Decrease of dropout rates  65% in first year (traditional teaching approach)  9.09% in second year (1st prototype: Mundo Nucleo) – only experimental group  16% in third year (2nd prototype: Mare Monstrum) – all the students  Two case studies in order to test how three aspects of Mare Monstrum affect students’ motivation  The role game dynamic of the learning scenario % of the students found this motivational.  The immersive 3D MUVE scenario % of the students found this motivational.  The fostering of competition by using social recognition strategies % of the students found this motivational.

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 11/11 Discussion of results And Conclusions Contents Introduction & Motivation NUCLEO (generic framework) And Mare Monstrum (specific prototype) Case Studies Summary and Final Remarks  Fantasy and gaming are powerful motivators…  … but immersive 3D multi user interface does not seem to be as important as the gaming or the learning strategies  Boosting competition using social recognition strategies…  works very well for the majority of students  while it is counterproductive for a small minority

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 12/11 Thanks for your attention! Pilar Sancho Javier Torrente Baltasar Fernández-Manjón Don’t forget to visit our web-sites!

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 13/11 Mare Monstrum: Social Interaction (II) Global Interaction Student-tutorInteraction Group Interaction

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 14/11 Discussion of results And Conclusions Contents Introduction & Motivation NUCLEO (generic framework) And Mare Monstrum (specific prototype) Case Studies Applying Mare Monstrum to Engineering Education: Case Study 2 (Description)  24 Selected Users and Experts evaluated the system  8 teachers.  Were experts in design and development of e-learning applications  Taught modules of computer programming  16 selected students  Extreme gamers of MMORGs  Completed 2 surveys  Satisfaction survey similar to case study 1  Measurement of usability of some in-built collaboration tools

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 15/11 Applying Mare Monstrum to Engineering Education: Case Study 2 (Results)  Students’ opinion  Teachers’ opinion

Pilar Sancho, Javier Torrente, Baltasar Fernández-Manjón 16/11 Integration of Multiverse and Moodle